Wire fabric and apparatus and method for making same

ABSTRACT

This disclosure describes a wire fabric of open construction including a plurality of wires each of which is formed into a coil. The several coils are interlinked and secured together to form a wire fabric of open construction. The wire is of noncircular cross section and provides a wire fabric of increased strength.

United States Patent Rohrbacher WIRE FABRIC AND APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME Inventor: Herbert E. Rohrbacher, Whittier, Calif.

Bergandi Manufacturing Company, Inc., El Monte, Calif.

Feb. 12, 1970 Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. N0.:

Related US. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 658,530, Aug. 4, 1967, Pat. No. 3,512,760.

US. Cl. ..140/3 0, 72/17, 72/137,

140/1, 140/927 1m. (:1. ..B2 1r 23 00, B2lf27/04 Field of Search 140 1, 3, 3 c, 92.3, 92.4,

1 1 June 6, 1972 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner Lowcll A. Larson Attorney-Smyth, Roston & Pavitt [57] ABSTRACT This disclosure describes a wire fabric of open construction including a plurality of wires each of which is formed into a coil. The several coils are interlinked and secured together to form a wire fabric of open construction. The wire is of non-circular cross section and provides a wire fabric of increased strength.

8 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTEU JUN s 1972 8. 6 6 7. 5 O 9 SHEET 2 OF 2 WIRE FABRIC AND APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME This is a division of Ser. No. 658,530 filed Aug. 4, .1967, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,760.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Wire fabric of open construction has many uses including fencing, furniture, and in various other areas requiring a strong open network. Wire fabric is constructed of many individual wires, each of which is usually constructed of metal and is circular in cross section. In making the wire fabric, each of the wires is formed into a coil and the several coils are appropriately interlinked to form a wire fabric having many openings therein. When the adjacent coils are loosely interlinked rather than clampingly interlocked, the wire fabric is often referred to as chain link.

In order to be suitable for many of its uses, the wire fabric must be of high strength. For example, when wire fabric is used for a freeway fence, it is important that the fence be strong to restrain vehicles from passing therethrough. One disadvantageof conventional wire fabric constructed of round wire is that it does not have as much strength as is desired. In particular, when a chain link fence is struck by an object, e.g. a car, the fence tends to fail locally. That is, the vehicle or other object is often effective to punch a hole through the fencing. Thus, the round wire fabric is locally weak and lacks an ability to distribute an applied impact load over a large area thereof. This can be demonstrated by pulling on a single strand of a wire fabric. Unless the wire is of very heavy gauge, and the mesh is quite small, the strand can be relatively easily pulled perpendicularly out of the plane of the fabric. As the wire is pulled out, it will slip or slide relative to the portions of the coils in contact therewith and may cause deformation of the adjacent coil as well. This simple test evidences a lack of local strength on the part of the strand which is pulled and an inability on the part of the adjacent coil to restrain such strand against being pulled out.

In an effort to make wire fabric stronger, heavier gauge wire has been used. In addition more of the wire coils have been used to thereby make the chain link of smaller mesh. Although these remedial measures do impart some additional strength to the wire fabric, they make the fabric unduly heavy and expensive. The additional weight makes handling and installation of the wire fabric more difficult. Handling of the wire fabric constructed of round wire is further complicated by burrs and other sharp projections which are often present on the wire.

Conventional wire fabric made of round wire has little esthetic appeal and provides a minimum of privacy and obscurity. When this fabric is used for freeway fencing to divide traffic lanes, it provides a minimum of protection or shielding against the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. That is, when two approaching vehicles are spaced at a distance at which headlight glare from the oncoming vehicle is troublesome, the openings in the wire fabric and the configuration of the wires in the fabric permit a significant amount of the light to pass therethrough.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a decorative wire fabric of open construction that is significantly stronger for a given mesh size and wire weight than the wire fabric described above. Conversely less metal is required to produce the wire fabric of this invention having a strength equivalent to the strength of the wire fabric constructed of round wire. The wire fabric of this invention has a better ability to cause loads applied locally to be absorbed by a larger area of the fabric and is therefore less subject to local failure. When the wire fabric of this invention is used as a freeway fence to divide oncoming lanes of traffic, the wire fabric eliminates or substantially reduces the amount of illumination that is transmitted between the opposing lanes of traffic through such wire fabric.

The present invention teaches that a stronger wire fabric is obtained by utilizing wire of noncircular transverse cross section. Although some advantages might be realized by using, for example, a wire of generally square cross section, it is preferred to utilize wire with a transverse cross section having an elongated dimension. Although various cross sections meet this definition, it has been found that wire of generally rectangular cross section achieves excellent results and is relatively easily obtainable. I

According to the present invention several wires are formed into coils with each of the revolutions of the coils having portions which diverge in side elevation. Each of the divergent portions are integrally interconnected by an interlinking portion. Preferably, in end elevation the coils appear elongated.

In order that a wire having an elongated transverse cross section can be so configured, it is necessary that the wire be twisted or deformed in several directions. The elongated cross section and the twisting or bending of the wire, individually and in combination, act to strengthen the wire against bending. When several of these coils are interlinked and a load is applied to a local region thereof, a much larger area of the fabric is operative to absorb such impact load and thereby tend to reduce the likelihood of a local failure.

To obtain a wire fabric having a chain link characteristic rather than clampingly and immovably fixing the coils relative to each other, it is preferred that the interlinking portions of each wire take the form of a looped or curved reverse bend. The confronting surfaces of the interlinked reverse bends are preferably configured so as to be noncomplementary. Forming coils from wires having flat faces inherently produces looped reverse bends having noncomplementary confronting surfaces. This causes the reverse bends to be engageable at two separate spaced contact points or areas. It is believed that this two point contact contributes to the improved strength properties of the wire fabric of this invention. More particularly when the wires are of rectangular cross section, the edges or short sides of the rectangle will be engageable at the reverse bends to provide the advantageous two point contact.

It is important that the material utilized for the wire be deformable to allow a wire netting machine to bend the wire into a coil. Furthermore, in order that the resulting wire fabric can be of high strength, it is important that the material be at least substantially rigid and locally nonflexible. For example, a metal such as steel or a metal encased in a decorative colored plastic sheath may be utilized. I

The transverse cross section of the wires is elongated in a direction which tends to reduce the size of the adjacent openings in the fabric. Accordingly, the openings in the fabric of this invention are smaller than in a'corresponding prior art wire fabric. The smaller openings and the increased width of the wires combine to reduce or substantially eliminate the transmission of headlight illumination therethrough when such fabric is utilized in a fence for dividing opposed lanes of a highway.

The present invention teaches further increasing the strength of the wire fabric by utilizing wire having a cross section offering desirable strength proportion. For example, the wire may have a channel-shaped transverse cross section or a longitudinally extending reinforcing bead to reinforce the wire against bending.

The present invention also provides a novel machine and method for constructing the wire fabric of this invention. It has been common practice when using circular wire to lay a circularly wound length of the wire on a horizontal supporting surface and allowing the wire netting machine to pull the wire from the supply of wire automatically as required by the machine. Such an arrangement is not suitable however where the wire has an elongated transverse cross section in that such wire cannot be bent as is required in the use of such a system.

To solve this problem, the present invention provides a wire netting or processing machine in which the wire is wound on a reel or spool which is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis. This eliminates the objectionable bending and distorting of the wire which would occur if the former practice were followed.

With the wire wound on a reel it is impractical to allow the wirenetting machine to withdraw the wire as required because of the relatively high inertia of the reel and wire. In particular the inertia of the wire and reel may resist a sudden demand on the part of the processing machine for wire to the extent that the wire may fracture. Accordingly, the present invention provides a motor for unwinding the wire from the reel and control means for regulating the rate at which the wire is unwound so that it will conform generally to the requirements of the processing machine. The motor preferably drives the reel at a variable speed depending upon the rate of demand of the processing machine.

The processing machine of this invention also provides means for altering the cross sectional configuration of the wire prior to the coiling thereof to provide increased strength properties. The present invention teaches the use of a pair of opposed rollers having a circumferentially extending peripheral groove and projection, respectively. The wire is passed through the rolls with the faces thereof being forcibly engaged by the projection to force a portion of the wire into the groove. This forms a longitudinally extending reinforcing bead preferably along the full length of the wire. The reinforcing bead substantially increases the resistance of the wire to bending about a transversely extending axis.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation together with further features and advantages thereof may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a wire fabric of open construction constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention.

FIGS. 2-5 are enlarged transverse sectional views through four different wire configurations which may be used in constructing the wire fabric of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1 and illustrating several of the coils in end elevation.

FIG. 6a is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing a modification of the fabric construction.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 88 ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a fence embodying the wire fabric of this invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic elevational view of an apparatus for making wire fabric of this invention.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 11-1 1 of FIG. 10 and showing the configuration of one of the intake rollers of the processing machine.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 12-12 of FIG. 10 and showing the rolls for forming a reinforcing bead in the wire.

FIG. 13 is a side elevational view illustrating a portion of the machine for making the wire fabric of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1 thereof reference numeral 21 designates a wire fabric of open construction constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. The wire fabric 21 includes a plurality of individual wire coils generally designated 23a, 23b, 23c and 23d, respectively. Each of the coils 23 is constructed from a single piece of wire and includes a plurality of revolutions or turns. Each of the turns has a pair of divergent legs or portions 25 which are integrally connected by an interlinking portion or reverse bend portion 27. The adjacent coils 23 are interlinked with their reverse bend portions 27 being confronting and engageable. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the reverse bends of adjacent coils are loosely interlinked to avoid rigidly clamping the coils together. Alternate coils 23 may be interconnected or attached to each other as by bending or twisting of the ends of the coils together to form a connection 29. The coils of the divergent legs may intersect at any desired angle, however an angle of 90 has been found very satisfactory. Two opposed pairs of the divergent legs 25 define openings 31, which, in the embodiment illustrated are generally diamond shaped. As best seen in FIG. 6, the coils 23 are elongated in end elevation so that each divergent legs 25 of each pair thereof lie closely ad- 10 jacent each other.

One feature of this invention is that the wires which form the coils 23 are of noncircular, and preferably, elongated, cross section. FIGS. 2-5 show four different forms of wires having elongated cross sections, it being understood that various other forms of elongated cross section may be utilized.

FIG. 2 shows a wire 33 of rectangular cross section and having generally opposed relatively wide faces 35 and relatively narrow edges 37. By way of example, if the wire 33 were to have the same amount of metal per inch as standard 11 gauge circular wire, the wire 33 could be one-fourth inch wide by 0.040 inch thick, where the width of the wire is the distance between the edges 37 and the thickness of the wire is the distance between the faces 35. The rectangular wire 33 is a preferred form because wire of this configuration can be relatively easily drawn and is readily available.

FIGS. 3-4 illustrate wires 39 and 41, respectively, each of which has a cross section which inherently offers substantial resistance to bending loads. The wire 39 is identical to the wire 33 except that the former has a longitudinally extending reinforcing head 43 which preferably extends for the full length of the wire 39. The bead 43 is preferably formed by scoring the opposite face of the wire to form a longitudinal groove 45. The head 43 need only project very slightly from the face of the wire 39. For example, the bead may project one sixty-fourth inch if the wire 39 is one-fourth inch wide by 0.040 inch thick. Preferably the reinforcing head 43 extends along a central longitudinal portion of thewire 39. Of course, the width of the bead and the amount that it projects may be varied as desired to form a cross section having the desired strength properties.

The wire 41 is channel shaped in cross section and has a web 47 interconnecting spaced parallel flanges 49. The dimensions of the flanges 49 and the web 47 may be varied as desired to obtain the desired strength characteristics.

FIG. 5 shows still another form of wire 51. The wire 51 is triangular in cross section and has a relatively wide base 53 and a pair of sloping sides 55.

One factor which is believed to be significant in increasing the strength of the fabric is that the adjacent coils engage each other at two points as shown in FIGS. 6-8. Each of the reverse bends 27 are oppositely looped so as to define a space 57 between the adjacent cooperating bends. Stated differently, each of the reverse bends 27 has a face 59 which is directed inwardly toward the center of its respective coils 23. The faces 59 are of noncomplementary, i.e. of nonmating configuration to thereby define the spaces 57. This results in contact between turns of adjacent coils 23 at two spaced areas or points 61. More partic-ularly, the points of contact 61 occur between spaced portions of the edges 62 of the adjacent coils 23. By way of contrast, when round wire is used there is only one continuous area of contact which is subject to allowing relative slipping between the contacting wires. With the present invention, however, such slipping is maintained at a minimum and the wire fabric 21 has the ability to distribute a locally applied load over a large area thereof and is less likely to fail locally.

FIG. 6a shows modification in which the reverse bends 27' have been substantially collapsed to hold or clamp adjacent coils 23d and 23c firmly together. This modification may be used where it is preferred that the wire fabric not have a chain link characteristic. It should be understood therefore that the spacing of the legs 25 of a particular coil in end elevation and the sharpness of the reverse bends 27 may be selected to meet the particular requirements of a user.

When any of the wires shown in FIGS. 2-5 are formed into coils as shown in FIGS. 1-6 they are inherently bent and twisted as shown in FIGS. 7-8. This bending and twisting of the wire in the formation the coils 23 produces a configuration which is greatly resistant to bending and is locally nonflexible. Thus, an individual coil 23 is much more difficult to bend locally than is a coil of corresponding weight and shape which has been constructed of round wire. When these individually strong coils 23 are interconnected to form the fabric 21, the result is a fabric of increased strength.

The wire fabric 21 has numerous uses, one of which is in a fence 63 (FIG. 9). The fence 63 utilizes a length of the fabric 21 suitably mounted on upright supporting posts 65. The posts 65 are suit embedded in a supporting surface 67. Usually the coils the fabric 21 will extend vertically. The fence 63 is very strong and may be used, for example, as a guard fence or as a freeway fence.

Another feature of the present invention is that the size of the openings 31 (FIG. 1) is materially reduced in that the cross section of the wire is elongated in a direction which reduces the size of these openings. This makes the fence 63 more capable of acting as a visual barrier. This feature is particularly useful in freeway fencing to reduce headlight glare from an on coming vehicle.

FIG. illustrates schematically a machine 69 which can be used to make the wire fabric 21. In the discussion of the machine 69 it is assumed that the wire 33 of rectangular cross section is utilized, it being understood that the machine 69 can be utilized with wires of other cross section.

The wire 33 is wound on a reel 71 which is suitably mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis. To avoid permanently deforming the wire 33, the wire is wound on the reel 71 with one of the faces 35 directed radially inwardly. The wire 33 moves as a continuous strand over a fixed pulley 73 and passes beneath a movable pulley 75. The wire then passes over another fixed pulley 77 through a pair of bead forming rollers 79 and 81, to the intake pulleys 82 of a wire processing unit 83. The unit 83 pulls the wire 33 from the area of the pulley 75 at the desired rate. 1

A motor 85, preferably a direct current electrical motor, is suitably mechanically connected to the reel 71 to rotate the reel and unwind the wire therefrom. The motor 85 can be driven at variable speeds. 'As the motor drives the reel 71, the wire 33 is unwound from the reel and is pushed upwardly over the pulley 73 and toward the movable pulley 75.

The movable pulley 75 is mounted for rotation at the end of an arm 87 which is pivotally mounted about a pivot point 89. The arm 87 terminates rearwardly in a conductor 91 which is maintained in engagement with a resistor 93. A source of power such as a battery 95 supplies current through the motor 85 to a conductor 97, a conductor 99, the conductor 91 and at least a portion of the resistor 93. The conductor 91 and the resistor 93 function as a rheostat to vary the voltage of the power supplied to the motor 85 to thereby vary the speed of the motor.

The arm 87 tends to pivot in the counterwise direction about the pivot point 89 under the influence of its own weight and the weight of the pulley 7 5. This tendency of the arm 87 is resisted and controlled by the amount of slack in the wire 33 at the pulley 75. Thus, if the reel 71 supplies wire to the pulley 75 faster than it is being utilized by the processing unit 83, the amount of slack will increase and the arm 89 will pivot counterclockwise to increase the value of the resistance in the motor circuit to thereby decrease the motor speed and the speed of the reel. Conversely, if the demand rate of the unit 83 exceeds the rate of supply, the arm 87 will be pivoted clockwise to increase the speed of the motor 85. Of course, the rheostat will operate to stop the motor 85 if the amount of slack exists in the wire 33.

The processing unit 83 is provided with one or more intake rollers 82 over which the wire 33 passes as it enters the processing unit 83. To avoid permanent deformation of the wire by the rollers 82, it is important that the rollers have a flat surface 99 for supporting the correspondingly flat face of the wire 33. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11 the rollers 82 have a pair of peripheral flanges 101 which extend radially beyond the surface 99 to form a groove 103 in which the wire 33 rides.

If it is desired to utilize the scored wire 39 in making of the fabric 21, such scoring can be conveniently accomplished by rollers 79 and 81. One preferred form of the rollers 79 and 81 is shown in FIG. 12. The lower roller 81 has a channel 105 formed in the peripheral surface thereof and extending circumferentially completely around the roller 81. A groove 107 which is preferably arcuate in cross section is formed in the bottom of the channel 105 and extends circumferentially completely around the roller 81.

The upper roller 79 has a peripheral circumferentially extending shoulder 109 sized to fit within the channel 105 as' shown. A projection 111 extends radially outwardly of the shoulder 109 and extends circumferentially completely around the roller 79. The projection 111 is sized and positioned to cooperate with the groove 107.

The rollers 79 and 81 are suitably firmly rotatably mounted about a parallel rotational axis with the desired clearance space or gap between the shoulder 109 and the channel 105 to accommodate a wire of a predetermined thickness. The spacing between the centers of the rollers 79 and 91 is preferably adjustable so that the same rollers can accommodate wire of various thicknesses. As wire is fed through the gap 110 between the rollers 79 and 81, the rollers rotate and the projection 1 l 1 forcibly bears on a longitudinally extending central region of the wire with sufficient force to deform such center region downwardly into the groove 107, to form a longitudinally extending reinforcing bead such as shown at 43 in FIG. 3. This method of reinforcing the wire is preferred because it can be carried out immediately prior to utilization of the wire and does not necessitate additional handling of the wire as would be required if the scoring operation would be carried out independently of the machine 69.

FIG. 13 shows a portion of the processing unit 83. Except as specifically noted herein, the processing unit-83 may be of the type described and claimed in US. Pat. Nos. 2,625,961 and 3,008,497.

The wire 33 is fed into two separate strands from two separate reels 71 to a stationary worm 113 having two sets of helical slots 115 and 117 to guide the two wires 33 onto a rotary mandrel or forming blade 119 to form two corresponding wire coils 121 and 123 thereon. The coils 121 and 123 pass through a second worm 125 which tighten the coils following which the wire coils pass through a cutter 127 and forming tube 129 in a well known manner. In the forming tube 129 the coil 121 and 123 are woven into the previously formed wire fabric, the previously formed fabric being generally designated 131 in FIG. 13. This weaving action is carried out in the same well known manner as when wire of circular cross section is used.

The mandrel 119 has a central section 133 of reduced height to prevent tightening of the coils 121 and 123 from causing the coils to bind on the mandrel. The mandrel 1 19 has portions 135 and 137 within the worms 113 and 125, respectively. When round wire is being processed, these portions 135 and 137 must be frustoconical and progressively decrease in diameter as they extend to the right in FIG. 13. Because of the small area of contact between wire of circular cross section and the mandrel 1 13 this tapering of the mandrel 1 19 is necessary to avoid pressure welding of the wire to the mandrel. Because of the larger bearing area between the flat wire 33 and the mandrel 119 it is not necessary to taper the portions 135 and 137 to avoid pressure welding. Accordingly, the structure of the processing unit 83 of this invention is simplified in that the portions 135 and 137 of the mandrel 119 are generally cylindrical rather than frustoconical.

Although exemplary embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, many changes, modifications, and substitutions may be made by one having ordinary skill in the art without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim 1. In a machine for processing wire to produce a wire fabric of open construction, the combination of:

a rotatable reel for having the wire wound thereon;

motor means for rotating said reel to unwind the wire therefrom, the wire unwound from said reel passing from said reel to a control station;

processing means for forming said wire into a plurality of interwoven coils to form a wire fabric of open construction,

said processing means including means for pulling said wire from said control station through said processing means;

control means at said control station responsive to the demands of the processing machine for wire for controlling the speed at which said motor means drives said reel to thereby control the rate of feed of wire from said reel to said control station, and

roll means mounted intermediate said reel and said processing means for forming a generally longitudinally extending rib in the wire.

2. in a machine for making a strong wire fabric of open construction from elongated wire of deformable material having a pair of generally opposed relatively wide faces, and a pair of relatively narrow edges, the combination of:

first and second rolls, each of said rolls having a circumferentially extending peripheral surface;

means for mounting said rolls for rotation with the circumferentially extending peripheral surfaces thereof being in closely adjacent confronting relationship;

said peripheral surface of said first roll having a shallow circumferentially extending groove therein extending completely around said first roll;

said second roll having a projection on the peripheral surface thereof extending circumferentially and continuously around said second roll, said projection confronting said groove and being sized to coact therewith whereby upon passing of the wire between said rolls the projection and groove form a continuous longitudinally extending bead in one of said faces to form reinforced wire; and

means downstream of said rolls for forming the reinforced wire into a plurality of individual coils, and means for interweaving said coils to form a wire fabric of open construction.

3. A combination as defined in claim 2 wherein one of said rolls has a circumferentially extending channel formed in the peripheral surface thereof, said channel having a width sized to receive the relatively wide faces of the wire, said channel extending continuously completely around said one roller.

4. A combination as defined in claim 3 wherein said one roller is said first roller and said second roller is positioned above said first roller.

5. In a method of making a strong wire fabric of open construction from an elongated continuous wire of deformable locally rigid material having a pair of generally opposed relatively wide faces and a pair of relatively narrow edges, the steps of:

deforming the wire at a first station to form a generally longitudinal groove in one of said pair of said relatively wide faces and a generally longitudinal projection on the other of said relatively wide faces to define a longitudinally extending reinforcing bead on said wire;

passing said wire as a continuous strand from said first station to a second station; and

forming said wire at said second station into a plurality of interlinked coils arranged to define a wire fabric of open construction.

6. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein said step of deforming includes passing the wire through coacting rollers having coacting bead forming faces with said pair of relatively wide faces engaging said bead fonning faces.

7. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein the wire is wound on a reel which is rotatably mounted about a generally horizontal axis and including unwinding the wire from a reel by rotating the reel and passing the unwound wire as a continuous strand from the reel to the first station.

8. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein said pro ection and groove extend for substantially the full long-itudinal length of the wire. 

1. In a machine for processing wire to produce a wire fabric of open construction, the combination of: a rotatable reel for having the wire wound thereon; motor means for rotating said reel to unwind the wire therefrom, the wire unwound from said reel passing from said reel to a control station; processing means for forming said wire into a plurality of interwoven coils to form a wire fabric of open construction, said processing means including means for pulling said wire from said control station through said processing means; control means at said control station responsive to the demands of the processing machine for wire for controlling the speed at which said motor means drives said reel to thereby control the rate of feed of wire from said reel to said control station, and roll means mounted intermediate said reel and said processing means for forming a generally longitudinally extending rib in the wire.
 2. In a machine for making a strong wire fabric of open construction from elongated wire of deformable material having a pair of generally opposed relatively wide faces, and a pair of relatively narrow edges, the combination of: first and second rolls, each of said rolls having a circumferentially extending peripheral surface; means for mounting said rolls for rotation with the circumferentially extending peripheral surfaces thereof being in closely adjacent confronting relationship; said peripheral surface of said first roll having a shallow circumferentially extending groove therein extending completely around said first roll; said second roLl having a projection on the peripheral surface thereof extending circumferentially and continuously around said second roll, said projection confronting said groove and being sized to coact therewith whereby upon passing of the wire between said rolls the projection and groove form a continuous longitudinally extending bead in one of said faces to form reinforced wire; and means downstream of said rolls for forming the reinforced wire into a plurality of individual coils, and means for interweaving said coils to form a wire fabric of open construction.
 3. A combination as defined in claim 2 wherein one of said rolls has a circumferentially extending channel formed in the peripheral surface thereof, said channel having a width sized to receive the relatively wide faces of the wire, said channel extending continuously completely around said one roller.
 4. A combination as defined in claim 3 wherein said one roller is said first roller and said second roller is positioned above said first roller.
 5. In a method of making a strong wire fabric of open construction from an elongated continuous wire of deformable locally rigid material having a pair of generally opposed relatively wide faces and a pair of relatively narrow edges, the steps of: deforming the wire at a first station to form a generally longitudinal groove in one of said pair of said relatively wide faces and a generally longitudinal projection on the other of said relatively wide faces to define a longitudinally extending reinforcing bead on said wire; passing said wire as a continuous strand from said first station to a second station; and forming said wire at said second station into a plurality of interlinked coils arranged to define a wire fabric of open construction.
 6. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein said step of deforming includes passing the wire through coacting rollers having coacting bead forming faces with said pair of relatively wide faces engaging said bead forming faces.
 7. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein the wire is wound on a reel which is rotatably mounted about a generally horizontal axis and including unwinding the wire from a reel by rotating the reel and passing the unwound wire as a continuous strand from the reel to the first station.
 8. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein said projection and groove extend for substantially the full long-itudinal length of the wire. 